DS Plots Petrol-hybrid SUV for 2018, Halo Sports car to follow

The first all-new model of the DS could be a gasoline-hybrid SUV when launching a new product range from 2018.

Speaking exclusively to Autocar ahead of this weekend in London ePrix Formula E racing, sales and brand marketing boss Arnaud Ribault suggest 'second wave' of new models will begin to arrive in two years, and that the SUV will be one of the first to went on sale.

"In the second wave of products, we will have a product to cover the most important segment of the premium market - SUV and sedan [saloon], from B to D segment" he said, before hinting that a hybrid powertrain will be under the hood. "We continue to develop electric powertrains and hybrid-electric, because we believe in a high performance car, and for a four-by-fours as well."

Petrol will become the preferred choice of fuel for the combustion engine portion of the powertrain, as the latest sales indicates DS luxury market is making a gradual change from diesel to gasoline.

While Ribault refrain from confirming whether an SUV or sedan will come first, he agreed it was important to launch immediately to penetrate the SUV car segment is the fastest growing. "But you know sedan is still very important, especially in Europe and even here in the UK," he added.

Ribault hinted that the SUV will target young, fashion-conscious buyers active and enjoy driving, because that image DS wants to create for himself. "We can describe a certain generation as' play hard and work hard." This is to show them a different generation. It is this kind of person we want to have our product. "

Both new SUV and a sedan will mix sporty performance with comfort, and like the rest of the future DS range, is likely to be available with the DS-performance models at the top. "Today, every [DS] models have engines of more than 200 horesepower, but only one called Performance - DS 3 Performance," said Ribault. "But E-Tense [pictured above] shows the direction our brand that we are interested."

Boss DS Performance Xavier Mestelan Pinon go one step further to confirm his intention to introduce a performance model for the entire range, said: "When you see we have a DS-3 performance, but in the future we will have it [the model performance] for all car brands . "

Pinon will not put a date on when we can expect a wide range of performance models of the DS, but suggested it could be some way off considering how new the company is.

"Do not forget that we are a start-up, we just built a brand DS-performance racing," he said.

DS plans to have six all-new car that was launched before the end of this decade to cover the main areas of the luxury segment. In the long run, halo sports car model could be on the cards, and Ribault suggest the concept of E-Tense DS Electric is an example of a brand intention to produce such a model.

"We want to develop high-performance cars of hybrid and fully electric," he explained. "This is the direction we are interested - that's why we made the E-Tense."

Ribault continued by suggesting DS can produce a rival to the upcoming all-electric BMW i8. "I really liked that car," he said. "It's something we've seen."

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